The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1887-04-23
FISHERMEN IN DANGER.

The harpooner then singled out the most
daring of the monsters, and hurled his heavy
javelin straight at its head. A dull thud
followed instantly by an extra splash in
the water, told the men how well the in-
strument had been aimed. The wounded
shark instantly started off in another dircc-
tion, but second harpoon soon intercepted
its headway. The great animal gasped
fearfully as it raised its head out of the
water, and then, with violent swish with
its tail, it rolled over on its back in its
death agonies. But instead of improving
the condition of the fishermen, this work
made their danger imminent. Three or
four more sharks threw themselves on the
dead body of their comrade and tried to
tow it away from the boat. This increased
the speed of the boat considerably, and
soon the little craft was speeding swiftly
out at sea, propelled forward by the mad
dened monsters. The stern Of the boat
was nearly on level with the surface Of
the water, and every billow washed over
the side. The sharks seemed to have lost
all fear of their enemies, and the taste of
bloodroused their ravenous appetite. They
rushed close up to the sides of the boat,
and glared sayagelyat the inmates, as though
they would relish the idea of closing their
blood-stained jaws upon them. The har-
pooner made good use of his iron instru-
ments, and hurled them in quick succession
at the nearest creatures; but he took good
care to see that no rope was fastened to the
other end
As the sea became more discolored by the
blood of the fish, the battle increased in
fury, and the animals became more daring
in their attacks. A large monster swan
close up to the head of the whaleboat, and
seemed about to attack it, when the sixth
harpoon suddenly whirred through the air
and sank its iron head deep into the feshy
head of the animal With blind rush
the big creature dashed itself heavily
against the side of the craft, and nearly
upset it by the force of the shock. Unable
to see on account of the blood that filled
its eyes, the wounded shark closed its huge
jaws upon the gunwale and began to
wrench and twist the strong planks from
their places. The now thoroughly fright
ened shark hunters seized clubs and axes,
and began to fight, not for pleasure, but for
their life A few well-delivered blows on
the head of the shark dashed its brains
out, but it was with some difficulty that the
jaws could be loosed from its hold ON the
boat. The blood streaming from its nu-
merous wounds attracted several other
sharks to the head of the boat, and it
seemed at one time as if they would leap
bodily into the craft Several were Drained,
and dropped back into the water, only to
be torn to pieces by the Others. The first
one was finally torn from its hold on the
gunwale, and as it sank back into the water
the rest of the ferocious creatures followed
it, and the battle in the forward part of
the boat was ended. Without waiting to
consider the loss, the captain of the whaler
quickly severed the ropes in the stern that
held the captured fish, and set the boat
free. Already the water was pouring in
through several small holes, and the danger
of being swamped was apparent to ALL As
soon as the lines were cut the battle grad.
ually worked away from the boat, and the
men were permitted to devote their whole
attention to saving themselves. The danger
of being left in the water at the mercy Of
the sharks made their teeth chatter with
fear, and, after stopping the leaks the best
they could, the craft was headed for the
beach with all possible speed. Several Of
the sharks followed in the wake like pur,
suing demons, but they kept at a respectful
distance. When the boat was finally
beached more relieved set of men never
trod land. 1t was the fercest combat with
sharks that they had ever experienced.